From that success Lord Bearsted has never turned back. But it is even more important to remember that Japan is still an object-lesson cogent enough to modify current or preconceived views of the world's history. Years ago, when Japan was at war with Russia, the many were in favour of backing the wrong horse. Lord Bearsted declared that Japan was tiie right horse, and he backed his fancy with all his i^sources. So jp^h for the fiscal, political, patriotic effort. It speaks Iror itself. But it possesses an interesting corollary for the world of business also. Lord Bearsted's belief in petroleum was drawn from the same well of conviction, his own mind; and frequently it met with the same sort of questioning. Yet the greatness of Japan as a nation now appears as a natural fact. And when a commodity, such as petroleum, is given to man by Nature, there is no more limit to its development, under scientific control, than there is to the advance which a gifted people can make by the aid of the sea. This parallel gives point to many things that Lord Bearsted has succeeded in doing during the last thirty years. Many of his enterprises have brought great advantage to this country. He has added something more than a footnote to the history of his times : he has succeeded in supplying a most interesting chapter, from which future generations will continue to learn. The first petroleum wells had been rendered commercially potent in the 'sixties. For a long time the nearest approaches to success were Americans and Britain entered the field at some disadvantage, whether American, Dutch, or British, many 303